[1.0.3.2] CDR Stun Jacks Sorcerer - A Gladiator Viable Build

CDR Stun Jacks Sorcerer


Gladiator cleared just after killing the last Benn’Jahr. Just noticed that I forgot to buy another set of buffs on wave 140 when I took the screenshot.

Introduction
First of all, sorry I can’t provide videos for this build because I’m playing on a shitty laptop that will make my life miserable if I record.

Ever since the release of AoM, I have always observed that the Eternity Relic has become a staple for endgame Arcanists and their playstyle has become centered on the Mirror>Another survival skill>Mirror combo for survivability. This combo is really strong especially in Gladiator Crucible where there’s almost an endless stream of incoming damage. Sorcerer and Spellbinder are especially good at this due to Blast Shield or Mark of Torment filling in the “Another Survival Skill” slot. As a result of this, CDR casters have become popular and are now stronger than ever compared to pre-xpac times. Three prime examples of these builds are JoV’s two Devastation builds (Sorcerer and Spellbinder) and Ptirodaktill’s CT Spellbinder build.

As a result of this observation on the Eternity Relic. I’ve began to try making my own CDR build that I have never seen here in the forums and I have arrived with this: The CDR Stun Jacks Build

Build Concept
It might have been obvious from the intro and the title. This build is based around using Untransmuted Stun Jacks as main damage skill coupled with CDR from Star Pact, Off-hand, Eternity Relic and Ulzuin’s Chosen.

This results in Stun Jacks having ~2.1s cooldown which can be reduced to ~1.1s with Eternity proc and has the chance to chain-cast the skill multiple times with Ulzuin’s Chosen proc. This is a strong build capable of taking out Gladiator in less than 30 mins with 2 buffs and vanguard banner (I don’t record clear times but my buffs usually run out at wave 145 so it should be less than 30 min). This might also be able to clear Gladiator without buffs and banners given some lucky spawns (i.e. not a lot of Valdarans and Maidens). EDIT: I already cleared no buffs/banners Gladiator with this though You’ll lose multiplier if 2x Valdaran + Maiden spawns in wave 150.

Pros:
-High Burst Potential from chaincasting Stun Jacks.
-Tanky with high Armor from Light’s Defender Set and Mirror>Blast Shield Combo almost always up due to high CDR.
-Only 1 Green Item (can be craftable if you want) needed for covering resistance.
-3.2k OA (yeah i get happy when I get >3k OA)
-Unlike most shotgun builds, You’ll not have that much of a hard time against Mad Queen due to Mirror and Nulification.

Cons:
-Kinda hard to play (relative to your everyday S&B builds and maybe even BWC sorc)
-Mad Queen will still give you heart attacks ifyou’re not careful on your shotguns.
-DoTs are not great so you won’t be able to kite while bosses are melting.
-Stun Jacks is kind of a hit-or-miss skill because it spreads quite wide at range, making you lose a lot of DPS at long range.
-You’re basically a melee build because of the above.

The Build:


Stats with all permanent buffs active

Click Here for Grimtools - This is the initial version shown in screenshot
http://www.grimtools.com/calc/JVlMgz7Z - Click this for the updated version with slightly more dps and significantly more burst potential.

Gearing

The core items of this build are Eternity, the Light’s defender set and the scepter. The rest should be added to 1) Cap Stun Jacks (26/16) and Full Spread (22/12) 2) Cap Resistances and 3) Cover other weaknesses in the build (phys res) and get OA and DA to respectable amounts (aim for 3k OA and 2.7k DA).

I put the MI ring in there to cover Aether and Chaos Resists as they’re hard to cap in this setup. The suffix can be anything. Alternatively, you can craft an incorruptible ring with a suffix that has pierce resist (there are 5 of them, so it won’t be as hard to get as a stonehide of kings boots) and replace chest component with Titan plating if your pierce resist is not enough.

As for the boots, you can also use a Stonehide of Kings green boots if you have it and still have the same performance (and easier resist capping including Bleed). If you do this then you can replace Allagast’s Stormgem with Mythical Quickening Gem to get some free skill points to distribute wherever you like/need.

The MI off-hand is not necessary as you won’t really hit all 10 Stun Jacks (The extra projectile is the only reaon I use this) always especially against small enemies but it you have it (and it’s kinda easy to farm because Overseers are one of the most common mobs) then Sandstorm is BiS Prefix for the Physical Resist. The suffix does not matter a lot. Go for what you have here. Any Lightning/Elemental Based Offhand should work here. I recommend Tome of the Arcane Wastes here for the +1 to all skills or Tome of Names for more RR.

In my setup I have only 66% Bleed Resistance. You can cap it using Ugdenbog Leather on Boots but I prefer the Movespeed of Mark. EDIT: I gave in and used Ugdenbog Leather because Maiden in no buffs crucible is hard without capped bleed res.

Also, when you compare GT link to my screenshot, you’ll notice some discrepancies in the resistances, I maxed mine by having good rolls (is it really a good roll if you have 6 Allagast rings to choose from?) and Angrim Pierce res bonus on helm. You can replace component in chest with Titan plating if you don’t cap pierce with your rolls.

Components on weapons vary depending on who you hate more between Maiden and Valdaran. I hate Maiden more so I use Seal of Might to get Physical resistance against her Strong IT ticks (Cannot be reduced by Armor). I recommend Purified Salts if you wanna kill Valdaran faster but if you do this, you’ll lose a good amount of Pierce and Bleed resists so I recommend using Stonehide boots of Kings or change the components on armor to adjust.

Skills and Devotions

Stun Jacks and no transmuter don’t need explaining here. It’s why the buid exists. Full Spread gets the 5 projectile bonus on 22/12. If you can’t getto 22/12 then go for 17/12 as levels 18-21 are useless without the extra jack.

Other skills are standard sorc skills.

Ulzuin’s Chosen is usually seen as a weak for a skill so far in the tree but this has helped the build a lot. I initially tried Grenado instead of this but I did not like it so I used Chosen and I really love the chain-cast possibility. You can even chain 4 casts of Stun Jacks in this if you’re lucky!

Devotions are centered around having Tempest and Hand of Ultos to help deal damage with Stun Jacks. Widow and Elemental Storm are for the obvious RR. The rest are either for sustain or OA/DA. Devotion bindings are mostly up to you but you can see mine in the GT link.

Levelling

I did not level this character for this build but just repurposed an old BWC Sorc for this. Just refer to ForgottenKane’s guide here: http://grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63183

Closing

Ehem… Hmmm. Stun Jacks is strong! Also don’t buff log. Dont want him to do to me what he did to Ulgrim :stuck_out_tongue:

Credits to JoV and Ptirodaktill. Your builds gave me an inspiration for this one. Also to Zhuugus who made me realize that my 30 min crucible clears aren’t bad and most people actually just clear this fast.

Reserved for (probably) updates.

Nice build =)
You should consider maxing Ulzuin chosen - it give increasing returns. Same with maiven.

A fine stun jacks build, I am glad SJ Sorc is getting more attention. Although my SJ Sorc is around a different damage type :stuck_out_tongue:

Grats on gladiator finish.

Thanks! I did max Ulzuin’s chosen once but it somehow got to 9/10 after some modifications. I’ll take a point from Conversion to there. I never thought about Maiven’s though. I always run out of points for that thinking that getting Maiven’s past 12/12 is last priority but I’ll try getting some points to there too.

I just noticed the closing section, would you do the rest of us a favor and edit “that” part out? :stuck_out_tongue:

Yeah I think I should before the others see this :wink:

I am also glad that this build worked because Elementalist was always seen to be the stun jacks class and now with Inq, Purifier might get some traction. Also there was this recent talk about how Sorc became the “BWC class” when Necro came.

SJ purifier? I don’t think I can make it work outside DoTs. I could be mistaken, not sure if Inquisitor is good for Jack Spam

And thanks :p.

You don’t need to spam them http://www.grimtools.com/calc/lNk1Y9DV :wink:

That’s what I said :stuck_out_tongue:
I said I don’t think spam jacks would suit Purifier at all, I am aware of CD Jacks Purifier :smiley:
Although I would point out SBoE is a waste of points, Lightning Tether is your DPS source. You’d be better of getting Skyfire for an additional nuke or investing them elsewhere unless you’re using it purely for the DA shred that is

In the end it turned down to this http://www.grimtools.com/calc/eZPzG7m2 . Did crucible w/o buffs on 10 multiplier all waves but I was near timelimit on 147-150. Lucky I didn’t encountered 2IM+Benny cause I wouldn’t make it.

I had some small updates in this build, mainly incorporating Ptirodaktill’s suggestions and also some new edits in the Gearing section. I have also done no buffs/banners gladiator crucible with the updated version.

EE-Sama?

Don’t tell me you are an EternalEnvy fan

Not really. I’m more of a Na’Vi fanboy who also cheers for whatever the strongest SEA team at the moment is, though I still like TNC more than Mineski.

I created this character after seeing an EE clip, hence the name.

Hail Sorcerers!

Good old combo mastery is showing some potential. Great build.

But man, it’s one ugly ass transmog :slight_smile:

Dafuq are you two talking about?

If it’s some anime and it’s actually good and not just the harem ecchi crap we get these days I want a name. If it’s a hentai then I want a pm ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

They talk about the DotA 2 pro scene.

Maybe I’m missing something but why do you have Star Pact at 14/12 instead of 13/12? There’s no CDR benefit going from 13 to 14.

He is using +1 Star pact relic

Thanks! My brother also kept calling me on the transmog but I follow what my eyes say.